April 24

• 1184 BC - Greeks enter Troy using the Trojan Horse (traditional).
• 1066 - Halley's Comet spotted.
• 1704 - The first regular newspaper in the United States, the Boston, Massachusetts New-Letter, is published.
• 1792 - "La Marseillaise" (French national anthem) is composed.
• 1800 - The United States Library of Congress is established when President John Adams signs legislation to appropriate $5,000 to purchase "such books as may be necessary for the use of Congress".
• 1846 - The beginning of the Mexican-American War.
• 1862 - American Civil War: A flotilla commanded by Union Admiral David Farragut pases two Confederate forts on the Mississippi River on its way to capture New Orleans, Louisiana.
• 1863 - The Keyesville Massacre: a massacre of 53 Native American men from the Tehachapi tribe in Keyesville, California.
• 1898 - Spanish-American War: Spain declares war on the United States.
• 1908 - Ralph DePalma makes his racing debut at the Briarcliff Trophy Race in Westchester, New York.
• 1913 - Woolworth Building opening ceremony.
• 1916 - Easter Uprising begins: The Irish Republican Brotherhood led by nationalist Patrick Pearse start a rebellion in Ireland.
• 1922 - In Australia, Colin Ross is hanged for the rape and murder of 13-year-old Alma Tirtsche.
• 1925 - John Scopes taught Darwin's theory of evolution, leading to the Scopes monkey trial.
• 1940 - World War II: Operation Demon - The United Kingdom begins evacuating Greece.
• 1953 - Winston Churchill is knighted by Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom.
• 1955 - Bandung Conference ends: 29 "non-aligned" nations finish a meeting that condemned colonialism, racism, and the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union.
• 1961 - The salvage of the famous Swedish ship HMS Wasa.
• 1963- Marriage of Her Royal Highness Princess Alexandra of Kent to Angus James Bruce Ogilvy at Westminster Abbey in London.
• 1967 - Cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov dies in Soyuz 1.
• 1967 - Vietnam War: American General William Westmoreland says in a news conference that the enemy had "gained support in the United States that gives him hope that he can win politically that which he cannot win militarily."
• 1968 - Mauritius becomes a member state of the United Nations.
• 1970 - The first Chinese satellite is launched.
• 1970 - The Gambia becomes a republic.
• 1975 - The Baader-Meinhof Gang blow up the West German embassy in Stockholm.
• 1980 - An American attempt to rescue the American hostages held in Tehran ends with eight American servicemen dead and no hostages freed.
• 1981 - Introduction of the first IBM PC.
• 1984 - Apple Computer unveils its Apple IIc portable computer.
• 1990 - The Hubble Space Telescope is launched by Space Shuttle Discovery.
• 1990 - Gruinard island is officially declared free of anthrax after 48 years of quarantine.
• 1993 - An IRA bomb devastates City of London.
• 1994 - The world's largest lollipop (weighing 3,011 pounds) is made in Denmark
• 1995 - The last Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1 rolls off the assembly line.
• 1996 - In the United States, the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 is introduced.
• 2004 - US lifts economic sanctions imposed on Libya 18 years ago as a 'reward' for its cooperation in eliminating weapons of mass destruction.

• 1533 - William I of Orange, Dutch uprise leader and national "father" (d. 1584)
• 1718 - Nathaniel Hone, Irish-born painter (d. 1784)
• 1815 - Anthony Trollope, English novelist (d. 1882)
• 1856 - Henri Philippe Pétain, French soldier and statesman (d. 1951)
• 1873 - Theodor Körner, general and politician (d. 1957)
• 1876 - Erich Raeder, commander in chief of the German navy (d. 1960)
• 1878 - Jean Crotti, Swiss artist (d. 1958)
• 1882 - Hugh Dowding, Scottish fighter pilot (d. 1970)
• 1889 - Sir Stafford Cripps, British politician (d. 1952)
• 1896 - Benjamin Whorf, American linguist (d. 1941)
• 1904 - Willem de Kooning, Dutch painter (d. 1997)
• 1905 - Robert Penn Warren, writer, Pulitzer Prize winner, first American Poet Laureate (d. 1989)
• 1906 - William Joyce, Irish-British fascist propagandist, writer and traitor (d. 1946)
• 1914 - Justin Wilson, Cajun humorist, celebrity chef, writer (d. 2001)
• 1914 - William Castle, director, producer (d. 1977)
• 1924 - Sir Clement Freud, British writer, radio personality and politician
• 1926 - Thorbjörn Fälldin, Prime Minister of Sweden
• 1930 - Jerome Callet, musician
• 1930 - Richard Donner, director, producer
• 1934 - Shirley MacLaine, actress and author
• 1940 - Sue Grafton, author
• 1942 - Richard M. Daley, politician
• 1942 - Barbra Streisand, singer, actress, director
• 1952 - Jean-Paul Gaultier, fashion designer
• 1953 - Eric Bogosian, actor, writer
• 1954 - Jerry Seinfeld, actor, comedian
• 1954 - Mumia Abu-Jamal, journalist and political activist
• 1962 - Jeff Minter, computer games programmer
• 1964 - Cedric the Entertainer, comedian, actor
• 1964 - Djimon Hounsou, actor
• 1972 - Chipper Jones, baseball player
• 1973 - Sachin Tendulkar, Indian cricket player
• 1977 - Carlos Beltran, baseball player
• 1982 - Kelly Clarkson, singer, winner of the first American Idol competition

• 1342 - Pope Benedict XII (b. 1285)
• 1731 - Daniel Defoe, English writer (b. c. 1660)
• 1736 - Eugene of Savoy, French-Austrian general (b. 1663)
• 1924 - Granville Stanley Hall, psychologist (b. 1844)
• 1938 - George Grey Barnard, sculptor (b. 1863)
• 1942 - Lucy Maude Montgomery, Canadian author (b. 1874)
• 1947 - Willa Cather, writer (b. 1873)
• 1965 - Louise Dresser, actress (b. 1878)
• 1967 - Vladimir Komarov, cosmonaut on Soyuz 1 (b. 1927)
• 1974 - Bud Abbott, actor, comedian (b. 1895)
• 1982 - Ville Ritola, Finnish athlete (b. 1896)
• 1986 - Wallis Simpson, mistress and wife of The Duke of Windsor (b. 1896)
• 2004 - Estée Lauder, cosmetics pioneer (b. 1906)

• Easter Sunday 1791, 1859, 2011.